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Commercial Radio

New guidance published on Format breaches

Ofcom has revised its processes for dealing with potential breaches of Format by commercial radio stations. This new document summarises the procedures that Ofcom will now follow in relation to possible breaches of Format, and replaces the previous 'yellow card' warning system. Full details can be found at:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/breaches/

Licences issued in this period

Licence Type	Licensee	Service Name/description
Local DSP*	Orion Media Ltd	various digital services

*Digital Sound Programme service

Services which have ceased to be licensed (handed back or revoked) in this period

The following services are no longer licensed. The relevant licence is either:

• No longer required by the licensee so has been handed back, or;
• In the case of a licence covering multiple services, has been amended to remove the requirement to provide the specific service; or
• Revoked for breach of a licence condition

Service Name	Licensee	Location	Type of service
Colourful	Colourful Media Ltd	satellite	RLCS*
Holiday FM	Resort Radio Ltd	satellite	RLCS*

*Radio Licensable Content Service

Licence extensions and renewals granted in this period

Four-year extensions have been granted to the following:

1. London Greek Radio Ltd for 'London Greek Radio.' The licence will now expire on 31 December 2014.
2. Radio Clyde Ltd for 'Clyde 1' and 'Clyde 2' (Glasgow). These licences will now expire on 30 December 2014.
3. Dee 106.3 Ltd for 'Dee 106.3' (Chester). The licence will now expire on 18 February 2015.

Analogue station Format Changes

Each station has as part of its licence a 'Format', which outlines the essential nature of the service and details any specific expectations of that service.
Any changes to a format can only be made by following the correct procedure and with the appropriate permission from Ofcom.

Agreed Change of Format: KMFM stations
Published 27|08|09

Agreed Change of Format: The Wyre
Published 27|08|09

Agreed Change of Format: Arrow FM and Sovereign Radio
Published 27|08|09

Agreed Change of Format: Lite and Connect
Published 27|08|09

Content Sampling Reports

Ofcom ensures that an individual station is meeting its Format requirements by listening to that station's output - a process which we refer to as 'content sampling'. The sampling of a particular station may be prompted by a complaint concerning a Format-related issue, or may be entirely routine.

There were no Content Sampling Reports in this period.

DAB station Format Changes

The following multiplex Format changes were agreed in this period.

Change	Multiplex
Removal of Chill	Wolverhampton, Coventry
Replacement of XFM with The Arrow	Leeds, South Yorkshire and Humberside
Replacement of The Arrow with XFM London	Yorkshire
Replacement of Chill with LBC	Edinburgh and Glasgow

Change of Control Reviews

Whenever a local radio licence undergoes a 'change of control' (for example, when it is sold), Ofcom is required under section 355 of the Communications Act 2003 to undertake a review of its programme output.
Specifically, Ofcom must review the likely effect of the change of control on:

• the quality and range of programmes included in the service;
• the character of the service; and,
• the extent to which local material and locally-made programmes are included in the service.

When the review has been completed, Ofcom may amend the content requirements of the licence.

Beacon
Published 10|08|09

BRMB
Published 10|08|09

Gold Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton
Published 10|08|09

Heart East Midlands
Published 10|08|09

Mercia
Published 10|08|09

Wyvern
Published 10|08|09

Pennine FM
Published 21|08|09

Arrow FM
Published 28|08|09

Sovereign Radio
Published 28|08|09

Local Radio Licence Transfers

Ofcom has approved the transfer of the following local commercial licences.

Service name	Location	New Licensee
Sunshine Radio	Ludlow	Murfin Media Ltd
Sunshine Radio	Herefordshire and Monmouthshire	Sunshine FM Ltd
Gold	Coventry	Orion Media Ltd
Gold	Wolverhampton	Orion Media Ltd
Mercia FM	Coventry	Orion Media Ltd

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Community Radio

Licences issued in this period

Service Name	Licensee	Location
Community Voice FM	Community Voice FM Ltd	Middlesbrough
Wayland Radio	Wayland Community Radio	Ashill, Norfolk

Services which have ceased to be licensed (handed back or revoked) in this period

There were no licences revoked/surrendered in this period.

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